Health & Fitness
Obesity in Our Elderly
It’s all linked together. Take for example the logical path of gaining weight. Children play all the time, or at least they should be active much of the day. As these young people eat right and remain active their bodies develop into maturity. Mature young adults, although now having more sedentary roles due to their jobs, (of course not all jobs are sedentary) begin to see their bodies fill out with both muscle and fat. As these adults further age, their active lifestyles often slow down. When they become less active they are more likely to develop fat in their bodies, especially if their diets remain unchanged. Lack of mobility coupled with poor dietary choices leads to an overweight and out of shape older adult, who is now susceptible to various health issues, many of which can be life threatening. Interestingly, this pattern is most often found in developed countries. Typically, elder groups have the greatest percentage of obese members, which leads to all sorts of medical and health insurance issues.
The solution is simple: eat right and exercise more. We all realize these solutions as the “right” thing to do, but getting our elders to follow these solutions is not so easy. Here are a few suggestions:
• Keep the focus on reducing weight.
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• Develop a simple exercise routine.
• If necessary, begin your exercise program with easy exercises, such as those in a pool or from a chair.
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• Have a nutritionist set up a proper diet for age and weight.
• And of course, seek the advice of your elder’s physician before making any drastic change in either his/her diet or exercise.